Alahor in Granata

Cast

Conductor Chiara Cattani
Director Benedetto Sicca Papa
Set designer Luigi Ferrigno
Costume designer Marco Piemontese
Lighting designer Marco Giusti

Muley-Hassem Laura Verrecchia
Zobeida Mira Alkhovik
Alahor Grisha Martirosyan
Alamar Dave Monaco
Sulima Cristina De Carolis

Orchestra Gli Originali
Coro dell’Accademia Teatro alla Scala
Chorus master Salvo Sgrò

New production by Fondazione Teatro Donizetti

Synopsis

The story—fictional yet grounded in historical context—takes place in late-fifteenth-century Granada. The city, the last Arab kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, is under siege by Spanish forces. Inside its walls, however, an internal conflict rages just as fiercely between two factions: the Abenceragi clan and the Zegri.

The Zegri have seized power, massacring their rivals and assassinating King Mohamed in order to install Muley-Hassem. Yet although Muley-Hassem is himself a Zegri, he proves neither partisan nor fanatical: he loves—and is loved by—Zobeida, Mohamed’s daughter, and he negotiates with the Spaniards in the hope of securing peace.

This earns him the hatred of Alamar, leader of the Zegri, who had planned to marry him to his own daughter, as well as the hostility of the entire war-hungry tribe. But Muley-Hassem is also the target of Alahor, Zobeida’s brother, who has returned to Granada in disguise to prevent his sister’s marriage and avenge their father by killing the new king.

Forced by Alahor, Zobeida publicly rejects the wedding, leaving Muley-Hassem shaken. Alamar then draws Alahor into a conspiracy to assassinate the king—an attempt that ultimately fails. Muley-Hassem not only spares Alahor but, with deep reluctance, renounces his claim to Zobeida.

Moved by such generosity, Alahor withdraws his opposition to the marriage. And when Alamar and the Zegri burst in, convinced that Muley-Hassem has been killed by Alahor, it is Alahor himself who rises to defend him. Even Alamar, once defeated, is granted pardon.

Zobeida is finally free to marry the wise and compassionate Muley-Hassem.